Huatai’s debut may herald a new dawn of Chinese IPO pricing

    Shanghai,China,Pudong,dawn

    Huatai Securities, one of the region’s largest brokerage companies, saw its shares gain as much as 7.3% Monday in its first day of trading in Hong Kong. A respectable rise, but just a fifth compared to the debut of its predecessor just two months ago, according to Bloomberg.

    GF Securities shares, which debuted April in Hong Kong, gained 35% in its first day of trading just as hundreds of IPOs in Shanghai hit their exchange-imposed 44% first day gain limit.

    But with fears of an impending correction hanging over the Chinese equities market, as well as measures to curb margin lending currently in place, Huatai’s highly-anticipated debut has been sort of clipped, signaling perhaps a new regime of modest IPO pricing as investors – who until last week made beelines for new offerings  – sit on the sidelines.

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